In this article, you’re going to discover which of the current crop of digital books reader devices are actually a wireless portable reading device.

The book reader market is moving forward at an increasingly furious pace, leaving behind the bad press and negative customer comments of the early days. This momentum is driven by the technological advances being made by the manufacturers, displays that are more paper like and larger, faster page turn with no lag or flicker, improved battery life for longer between charge reading, increased storage capacity so you can store your complete library on one small device, all these improvements go to diminish the memory of those early years.

As a consumer, you are probably wondering, what with the recent flurry of new book readers hitting the shelves, what is the difference between all these models?

Well one has to be price… Sony recently released their Pocket Edition prs300 and in the US are selling it for under 200 USD and a good buy it is too. Cool-er, a funky i-pod-esq reader, is also around that mark which makes that a decent buy also, and I could go on. These models are worth a look if you really want a device that ‘just’ reads books, and for the majority that is what they are looking for, but if you are looking for a digital books reader that to a certain point is future proof then perhaps you should be looking for a wireless portable reading device.

Wireless connectivity may be misleading as you probably think of the wireless connection used with your laptop. With wireless connectivity when used on a wireless portable reading device, the user is able to connect to the Internet through the 3G mobile phone network, no need for hot spots. On the move, be that in the car, on a train, walking, in fact any where you can get a signal, you can read the breaking news, peruse your favorite blog and download books without the need for a computer. You can probably see, this is the future of digital books readers, this is where all manufacturers need to be to survive in what is fast becoming a multi million dollar industry.

Amazon’s entry level model, the Kindle2, can be purchased for around 225 USD at some online stores. Amazon also caters for the business user with their impressive KindleDX, complete near 1:1 A4 display and again free wireless Internet connection through Whispernet wireless services. Another manufacturer that offers wi-fi is the Dutch company iRex Technologies. There wireless connectivity is more akin to what internet users are familiar with. Their iLiad second edition model comes kitted out with the full Linux O/S and easily connects directly, by Ethernet or wireless broadband connection, to the iRex delivery service. iLiad, like Amazon cater for the business/professional user user with their own wireless enabled iRex Digital Books Reader 1000 S. Again this has a near 1:1 reproduction of an A4 sized document, ideal for office and field applications. With this model though, they use second generation touch screen technology along side their wireless connectivity that further enhances the 1000s appeal.

One more to look out for in the future, as it is only just being trialed on the Japanese public, is the colour screen Fujitsu FLEPia. At the moment specification is patchy but it has wireless capability, a browser, is reported to use the Windows O/S that allows users to email, use windows software applications, a touch screen and stylus for making notes and supports file formats that will allow users to download electronic-books from the top online book shops in the world.

As you can now clearly see, a electronic readers come in different guises but the one thing that separates a digital books reader from a wireless portable reading device is who makes it.